Chevak Cup’ik or just Cup’ik (own name Cugtun) is a subdialect of Hooper Bay–Chevak dialect of Yup'ik spoken in southwestern Alaska in the Chevak (own name Cev’aq) by Chevak Cup’ik Eskimos (own name Cup’it or Cev’allrarmuit).[1][2][3] The speakers of the Chevak subdialect used for themselves as Cup'ik (not Yup'ik), but, the speakers of the Hooper Bay subdialect used for themselves as Yup'ik (not Cup'ik), like Yukon-Kuskokwim dialect. Actually, Cup’ik spoken in Chevak is closer to General Central Yup’ik than it is to Nunivak Cup’ig, therefore they should not be equated. The Cup'ik dialect is threatened. The Yup'ik letter c is pronounced as an English ch.

The Central Alaskan Yupik who in the village of Chevak call themselves Cup'ik (plural Cup'it). Those who live on Nunivak Island (Nuniwar in Nunivak Cup'ig, Nunivaaq in Central Yup'ik) call themselves Cup'ig (plural Cup'it). The name Cup'ig (with g) used for Nunivak Island Yup'ik dialect. But, the name Cup'ik (with k) used for Hooper Bay-Chevak Yup'ik dialect.

The oldest fully bilingual person in Chevak is Leo Moses, born in 1933; there are few if any persons born after 1945 who do not speak English.[1]

The first documentation of the Hooper Bay-Chevak dialect (beyond occasional citations) is found in unpublished notes of Jesuit priests residing ay Hooper Bay and Kashunuk in the 1920s and 1930s. Published recognition of Hooper Bay-Chevak speech as a dialect of Yup'ik seems to begin with Michael E. Krauss in 1973,[4] although needless to say, these dialect differences have been common knowledge among native speakers.[1]

The Cup’ik dialect is distinguished from Yup’ik by the change of "y" sounds into "ch" sounds, represented by the letter "c", and by some words that are completely different from Yup'ik words.

This unique identity has allowed them to form a single-site school district, the Kashunamiut School District, rather than joining a neighboring Yup’ik school district. English and Cup’ik bilingual education is done at this school. There is a tri-language system in Chevak; English, Cup’ik, and a mixture of the two languages.

Before 1950 formal education for students in Chevak took place in the Qaygiq[5] (semi-underground men's community house), and in the homes of the people.[6]